STEAM
ENGINE
Group Members: Yaxian Xie(yxx5029), Shurong Liu(sxl5270),
Gege Wang(gyw5052), Alice Ju(aij5050),
Mengqin Cao(mic5320)
If you want to know who invented the first steam engine, you would
have to go back in time almost 2000 years. The idea of heating water
to produce steam, then using that steam to move something, was
thought about by Hero in the first century.
Steam Engine An engine that converts the heat energy of pressurized
steam into mechanical energy, especially one in which steam drives a
piston in a closed cylinder. http://www.answers.com/topic/steamengine#ixzz1CvviVWAG
Thomas Savery who invented the first workable, although crude,
steam engine. Thomas Savery was an English engineer and inventor.
HISTORY OF INVENTION
• Thomas Savery patented • Thomas Newcomen • Watt's engine was the
dominant design for all
improved on this
the first crude steam engine design
modern steam engines
in 1698.
Thomas Savery (1650-1715)
Thomas Savery patented the first
crude steam engine based on
pressure cooker of 1679. He
solved the problem of pumping
water out of coal mines.
Thomas Newcomen (16631729)
Thomas Newcomen invented
the atmospheric steam engine,
an improvement over Thomas
Slavery's previous design. The
Newcomen engine was the
predecessor to the Watt.
James Watt (1736-1819)
James Watt improved on the
steam engine in the second
half of the 18th century that it
became a truly viable piece of
machinery that helped start the
Industrial Revolution.
WHAT PEOPLE’S LIFE WAS
LIKE BEFORE THE
INVENTION OF THE STEAM
ENGINE?
• Without a doubt, the invention of the steam engine has changed
people life in my aspects. This great invention is a milestone of the
development of the human civilization.
• The invention of the steam engine solved the energy crisis at that
time of period. One of the greatest contribution of the steam engine
is that it turns coal into a everyday energy for people to use.
W H AT P E O P L E ’ S L I F E WA S
LIKE BEFORE THE INVENTION
OF THE STEAM ENGINE?
• The invention of the steam engine is
also a saver for the factory. Before the
factory started to use steam engine, the
workers have to work for more than 14
hours a day. The invention of the steam
engine increased the efficiency of work.
THE DISADVANTAGE OF
THE STEAM ENGINE
• The invention of the steam engine was
known as a “invention that changes the whole
century”, it plays a great role in human
development. However, the steam engine is
also like a “Pandora box”, we can also find the
negative impact of the steam engine.
THE DISADVANTAGE OF
THE STEAM ENGINE
• First of all, the steam engine brought huge pollution to the
environment. Since people started to use the steam engine, they kept
pillage the natural resources like coal, petroleum, natural gas, metal
mineral resource, etc.
• What’s more, the Home trash, electronic trash, industrial refuse,
industrial waste that people produce because of the product of the
steam engine is also a huge harming to the environment.
HOW IT WORKS…
MAIN COMPONENTS
 There are four main different parts in a steam engine:
 A fire where the coal burns.
 A boiler full of water that the fire heats up to make steam.
 A cylinder and piston, rather like a bicycle pump but much bigger. Steam from the boiler
is piped into the cylinder, causing the piston to move first one way then the other. This in
and out movement (which is also known as "reciprocating") is used to drive...
 A machine attached to the piston. That could be anything from a water pump to a
factory machine... or even a giant steam locomotive running up and down a railroad.
 That's a very simplified description, of course. In reality, there are hundreds or perhaps
even thousands of parts in even the smallest locomotive.
Coal is loaded into the firebox (1), which is a metal box containing a coal
fire. This fire then heats up the boiler or the “giant kettle” inside the
locomotive. The boiler (2) is big tank of water with dozens of thin metal
tubes, or boiler tubes, that run from the firebox to the chimney (7),
carrying the heat and the smoke of the fire with them. This arrangement
of tubes means the engine’s fire can heat the water in the boiler tank
much faster, so it produces steam more quick and efficiently. The water
that produces this steam comes from tanks on the side of the locomotive
or from a separate wagon called a tender, pulled behind the locomotive.
The steam generated in the boiler flows into a cylinder (3), pushing the
piston (4) back and forth. As the piston pushes, the crank and
connecting rod (5) turn the locomotive’s wheels and power the train
along (6). http://www.explainthatstuff.com/steamanimation.html
(The graph is on the next page.)
 Thermodynamics is the science of energy conversion involving heat and other forms
of energy, most notably mechanical work. Historically, thermodynamics developed out of
a desire to increase the efficiency of early steam engines, particularly through the work of
French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1824) who believed that engine efficiency
was the key that could help France win the Napoleonic Wars.
 The steam engine is a heat engine converting heat energy to work. Heat is transferred
to water in the boiler. The steam carries energy to the engine where part of the heat
energy is converted to mechanical energy, work. The steam leaves the expander and is
condensed back to water rejecting some heat energy. This is known as an external
combustion engine. These processes must conform to the First Law of Thermodynamics.
This cycle is called the Rankine cycle.
CONCLUSION
ADVANTAGE
 The strength of the steam engine for modern purposes is in its
ability to convert heat from almost any source Into mechanical
work.
 It is safe and efficient.
HISTORICAL INFLUENCE
 The introduction of steam power fuelled primarily by coal, wider
utilisation of water wheels and powered machinery (mainly in textile
manufacturing) underpinned the dramatic increases in production
capacity.
 It was the beginning of the First Industrial Revolution which marked
a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily
life was influenced in some way, such as transport and manufacturing.